No Reason

I have no idea what the story is behind this, but I love it.

Ahoy!

Saké gets a lot of use out of the hole in their current box. If we turn the box so that the hole isn't on the top, she immediately rolls it to place the side with the hole up. If she wasn't so rotund, she might be able to get more than her head through the hole...

Saké (and a slightly hidden Sushi)

Christmas Leftovers

Sushi enjoys a bit of cheese left over from yesterday.

It's Almost Christmas!

I always feel like everything is more fun around Christmas.

Boxrat Saké

Sushi

Sushi hides among cat faces

Saké

Saké ventures out

The perfect gift?

Saké Gets in the Holiday Spirit

One of my coworkers gave me a gift in a lovely holiday box this week. I thought it would be perfect to take some pictures of the girls in the box.

Turns out though that when one of your rats is robust, only one can fit in the box at a time.

Saké

Play Time

The other night I decided to let the girls out while I was getting ready for bed. I expected them to play in the bathroom, but I didn't expect them spend all of their time playing on the counter top while I was washing my face and brushing my teeth.

The girls enjoyed themselves:

Naked Mole Rats and Acid

Ars Technica has a fascinating article on naked mole rats and their lack of sensitivity to acid. Naked mole rats live en masse in burrows which tend to be low on oxygen and high on carbon dioxide. As a result, they have made a number of evolutionary advances that allow them to thrive in this environment.

Naked mole rat burrow.

One of these evolutionary changes is that naked mole rats have a notably low pH count. This ends up allowing them to inhibit the dispersal of nerve signals quickly, reducing the overall effect of the acid.

The full article is at arstechnica.com/science/news/2011/12/acid-inhibits-naked-mole-rat-acid-sensors-instead-of-activating-them.ars and contains a great deal of information on *how* this actually happens. Naked mole rats are an interesting species, and while I am glad that our domestic rats do not resemble their cousins in appearance, I wish they shared some notable physical characteristics (for instance, there is no documented case of cancer in naked mole rats).

Naked mole rat.

They might not be pretty, but there is a lot to learn from them.

One Year!

It's hard for me to believe that we've had the girls for a solid year now. Not just that, but in a few days it will be a year since we had to make a tough decision regarding Sushi and her teeth and whether we were going to try to treat her.

I'm glad we gave it a try. She's short a few teeth these days, but she is really thriving.

Sushi

I think her sister is happy too.

Saké

It has been a good year.

Saké Hatches a Plan?

Last night while Sushi ate her cooked vegetables (from yet another pot pie), Saké appeared to have other things on her mind.

Sushi licks gravy off her vegetables.

At first, I thought Saké was just hanging out.

We've started to call her Plumpkins.

But then I noticed this:

Hmmmmmm.

Her paw action is reminiscent of someone else....

Of course, my favorite thing about this is that she was bracing herself with her hind paw.

Holding herself in place.

It's Bananas!

Bananas are one of the fruits that Sushi can eat without problem. I often mix pieces into her lab block/baby cereal mush, but sometimes she just prefers to eat a chunk of it straight from the peel:

Sushi.

Commercial Rats

 I don't often watch TV, which means I rarely see commercials. As a result, I love sites such as Ad Week that compile the best/most confusing commercials in one location. This Orkin commercial is one of the best I've seen.

Sushi's Carrots

There have been a lot of Sushi pictures lately, so obviously Saké needs to get back in front of the camera. However, it's easy end up with a lot of pictures of Sushi because I'm so excited when she gets to eat anything normal. It's not easy to be a rat missing half of her teeth.

Rat vs. Cats

This is a great clip, so I'll forgive the site for labeling this tough rodent a mouse.

From the always wonderful animalsbeingdicks.com/.

Vegetables

The other night I had a pot pie for dinner. Besides being one of my favorite things in the world, it also meant I had plenty of cooked vegetables to save for Sushi. Normally I wouldn't feed a rat vegetables straight from a pot pie, considering all the extra calories in the sauce and whatever else is cooked in there, but Sushi is a special case. Plus, I knew she'd love a break from her usual lab block/baby cereal mush.

Sushi assesses her options

Even with softened foods, Sushi is a slow eater. I put Saké on the bed and let her play for a while as Sushi ate.

Selecting a piece of carrot

I saved Sushi two pieces of carrots and a larger piece of broccoli. The carrots were not quite as soft as I would have liked, but she managed to eat most of both pieces. Only the hardest inside parts were left.

Holding onto her carrot.

It astounds me how much Sushi relies on her paws to help her eat. All rats do, but Sushi does much more frequently now since her surgery.

Notice the remains of the first piece of carrot by her foot.

The broccoli was much easier for her to eat, since it was practically falling apart in tenderness.

I think I need to start cooking vegetables for her on a regular basis. We always have fresh vegetables for Saké but other than peas, it is too infrequent that we have something that Sushi can also enjoy.

Little People, Giant Rat?

I follow The Little People Project (at little-people.blogspot.com/), which features various dioramas of action figure sized people in different situations.

I was happy to see a new post show up in my RSS reader and as I was scrolling through the newest pictures, I noticed this:

Is that a rat?

I wasn't sure if I was seeing what I thought. A picture further down clarified for me.

Yep, that's a rat.

You can see the whole awesome display, including more pictures both with and without the rat, at little-people.blogspot.com/2011/12/worst-wurst.html.

Empathy in Rats

Ars Technica has a wonderful write-up today of new research from Science discussing research into rat empathy. The full article is at arstechnica.com/science/news/2011/12/rats-show-empathy-will-come-to-the-aid-of-other-rats.ars.

Essentially, rats were placed in a pen that had a rat trapped in a center cage. The rats were able to free the trapped rat by rotating a door. Researchers also placed rats in the cage when the center cage was empty. Over a 12 day period, researchers were able to study the actions of each rat and observe any changes in action that developed during that time.

I am fascinated by the end findings. The loose rats were visibly upset when they were in proximity of the trapped rats, and by the end of the trial 100% of female rats and 70% of male rats became door openers. Overall, the trapped rats were released 77% of the time, yet when the center cage was empty, the door was opened only ~13% of the time. This suggests it was the presence of the trapped rat that led the free rats to release the door.

Check out the full article for more details on the study, including how things changed when chocolate chips were introduced.

Watching

The girls always keep a close eye on what is going on. This morning I was pulling socks out a drawer and looked up and Saké had contorted herself to see what I was doing down below her cage. They are curious creatures.

Their wine box is a particularly popular hideout from which to watch the world:

Sushi

Limited Options

We're really struggling coming up with things that Sushi can eat that provide her any sort of variety in her diet. She's getting what she needs nutritionally from her lab block/baby cereal mixture, but that is a pretty dull thing to eat every single day. We can mix regular cereal (Kix, Cheerios, Apple Jacks) into the mixture and once those pieces soften, she can eat those as well, but that isn't particularly healthy. We can also mix in softer fruits like bananas and blueberries. She also eats soaked pieces of monkey chow.  But when she's eating this every day, well, that isn't a lot of variety.

I also have a hard time getting vegetables she can eat. She does okay with softer cooked vegetables but she can't really eat anything fresh except for tomatoes. Even peas are hard for her - she needs help getting the skins opened up but is able to eat the softer insides.

She's gained weight since her surgery and I know that her quality of life is better without her constant vet visits. She isn't reluctant to eat anything, so perhaps I'm just over analyzing this.

Sushi eats a soaked piece of monkey chow.

MSU Fan #1?

Sadly, the Spartans lost this weekend's Big Ten championship game against Wisconsin. Instead of heading to California to play with the roses, they will head to Florida to play in the Outback Bowl on January 2.

Sushi

I don't think Sushi really cares.

A Day in the Life of a Zoo Veterinarian

This isn't strictly rat related, but KQED has a great video and article on zoo veterinarian Mike Selig. You can find the video at science.kqed.org/quest/2011/11/29/a-day-with-zoo-veterinarian-mike-selig/. Dr. Selig demonstrates how he examines an elephant, helps a turtle with a shell issue, anesthetizes a two-toed sloth, and deworms naked mole rats.

Size Doesn't Matter

I'm often amazed by just how different Sushi and Saké's body types are, considering that they are litter mates. Even though Sushi has gained weight since her surgery, she is still just a shadow of Saké.

Sushi: bigger than a mouse but tiny for a rat

Sushi's skeleton is easily felt and she looks like she is at an awkward adolescent stage. In reality she's nearly 14 months old.

On the other hand....

Saké is more akin to a water weenie.

Saké has weight to spare! She is taking full advantage of Sushi's baby cereal and lab block mush and has put on a few grams. Holding her is similar to holding onto a wet water balloon.

Not surprisingly, the skinnier Sushi is by far the more active of the two. Saké prefers to be held and have her fat belly rubbed.

Dave was kind enough to pose with both of them so we could see the size comparison.

Dave, Sushi, and Saké

Poor Dave. His neck is all red because instead of perching quietly, the girls were more interested in racing back and forth on him.

Sweatshirt Paradise

Sushi

When the girls were playing in laundry the other night, they particularly gravitated toward one article of clothing, a thick sweatshirt of Dave's. They burrowed deep inside, ran up and down both of the sleeves, and generally did not want to leave. Normally when I put my hands near them they stop whatever they are doing and quickly run up to perch on my shoulders. Last night they wanted none of this, and each time I tried to grab them they simply burrowed deeper into the sweatshirt.

Saké

Dave might end up sacrificing his sweatshirt for them.

Play Time

Rats are not the easiest pets I've had. Chickens are easier, as are fish. Rats need stimulation and attention, in addition to plenty of play time.

Last night though, half frozen from an evening out in the cold taking care of horses and walking dogs, it occurred to me that rats are very pleasant pets to care for. All I had to do was flip over a laundry basket, put the rats on the bed, and they were good for an hour of burrowing, digging, and exploring.

Saké

Sushi

Service Rats

CNEWS has an interesting article about the upcoming use of rats in Colombia to sniff out landmines (available here: cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Features/2011/11/23/19008356.html).

Landmine sniffing rat with his trainer.

It sounds similar to the HeroRATS (www.apopo.org/home.php) program that I wrote about a few weeks ago (at bentorats.blogspot.com/2011/09/herorats.html) but what I especially find interesting with the Colombian program is that they are using ordinary white rats.

The rats have a highly sensitive sense of smell which, combined with their light weight, makes them ideal for sniffing out landmines. They are also (of course) highly intelligent, making it easy for them to learn voice commands.

So far they have bred five generations of rats as the program has been fine tuned. It is believed that the upcoming generation will be trained to such a degree that they will be ready to go into the field. The Colombian government estimates that 31 of the country's 32 provinces contains landmines and people die because of them every year. If successful, the government's rat project could have a significant positive impact on the lives of Colombians.

Spartan Fan?

The MSU football team beat Northwestern 31-17 on Saturday and now stands alone at the top of the Big Ten division.  The Big Ten championship game is next weekend.

None of this means anything to Saké though. She was just looking for a place to hang out.

Saké

Patently Awesome!

I think this should become a real article of clothing:

I wouldn't hesitate to take Sushi and Saké for a walk.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving, the day when millions of Americans eat tons of food, watch football, and nap.

It also means that I'll have plenty of leftovers to pass along to the girls. I love the vegetable trays at big events for just that reason.

Sushi eats a bit of tomato

I know of at least one tiny rat who will approve of this.

Rat Naps

The other night I walked by the girls' cage and saw Saké camped out in an unusual place.

One quick photo before she noticed...

Unfortunately, the moment she realized I had the camera, she split.

"Me? I would never nap in the litter tray!"